Watching
by H4runo
Summary: Sasuke witnesses Sakura's progress at the training ground. (Post-War) [One shot]


He watched silently as he hid among the trees in the third training ground. Even after returning to the village, he was still suspended from going on many missions. With nothing better to do, a training session sounded like a good idea. Eventually, he had shown up just before her sparring partner, Ino had left to head home, insisting that she went followed before she wore herself out. Stubborn as she always was, she declined and continued training. Now here he was, hiding among the trees. It just felt right to not interrupt her session- for now. He had lost track of how long he'd been remaining hidden, watching over the pink haired kunoichi as she relentlessly hurled a barrage of kunai and shuriken at the targets that surrounded her.

Even after the sun had set, he didn't need light to notice that her body was battered, with various scratches and bruises from most likely, intense training. He'd admit it- she looked pretty good despite her state. Maybe it was how her light erinite eyes screamed out determination, and showed how much of a fighter she was, or maybe it was how she moved like flower petals in the wind when she dodged the kunai flying at her from the traps she had triggered.

One had barely nicked her in the shoulder, adding to one of her many scratches. After all the traps had been activated, she stood in the one spot that didn't have any weapons embedded into the ground in a three foot radius. She dropped to her knees, and her arms reached out in front of her to catch her from completely crashing on the ground. For a few moments she remained like that, panting after she had worn herself out. His eyebrows furrowed slightly in concern. Part of him told him to go out there and check if she was okay, but his ego suppressed it. It was only a few more seconds before she got back up, staggering a little.

It was then at that moment when Sasuke realized how different she really was from the girl he had left along with the village five years ago. Of course, he had seen her display of power during the war but this determination to continue fighting coming from her was very new to him. She was no longer the weak, twelve year-old girl that gave up so easily, and cried so very often. Now, at seventeen, he had realized that she had blossomed into a fine kunoichi, who had even surpassed the fifth hokage . She was determined to keep fighting, to continue improving, and to be better than she is now. But for what?

Sasuke watched Sakura as she began staggering and walking through the weapon-embedded area, with the same flame of perseverance in her eyes dulling down a little. Was she going to continue training? Not in this state. He had to fight the urge to appear before her, telling her to stop and rest. But when she began to collapse yet again, this time, headed onto the ground with protruding kunai and shuriken, he had no time to fight the urge. With his speed, he had gotten to her before she had hit the ground, and now he held her worn-out body in his arms, while standing on one of the stakes on the ground that once had Naruto tied onto it. She had lost consciousness for only a short moment, and that moment left as soon as she opened her eyes and jade met onyx. At first, she was confused as to why he was there, but she gave a light smile as she realized- he'd been watching her.

"Sakura, don't work yourself too hard. Even if you had stopped when Ino left, you'd still be worn out." Sasuke advised as the moon's light had hit his face at the perfect angle, making him appear even better than he is. He mentally kicked himself for slipping that bit of information out.

"That was… Quite a while ago…" She replied, as he jumped back to the ground and set her down, arms almost reached out in case she fell again. She stood there for a moment, struggling to remember how much time went by as she trained. How long was it? An hour? Two hours? "How long were you…" she trailed off, avoiding what she thought would be an empty stare. In reality, he was looking at her in a way she hadn't been seen in a while.

"About three hours." he admitted, now looking at the battered ground. "What are you training for?" he added curiously. The war was over, and she was busy with her hospital shifts and missions.

"Well, um…" She trailed off. The light pink shade she turned looked especially beautiful in the moonlight. That said it all. He then understood, and realized that from day one she had been striving hard to gain his acknowledgement as a ninja. She had been training hard all this time. He understood because that's what he once strived for- his father's acknowledgement. Now, he did see her as strong, especially after what he had seen her capable of doing during the war. "I guess-" she began to mumble, but he put a hand on her shoulder before she could begin explaining, and her eyes looked at his, with a hint of shock. With a smirk that was different from the others, he interrupted her.

"You really are strong, Sakura."


End file.
